searching for spring

I know that many of you are still stuck in the polar vortex... but here in Taiwan, spring is trying. we've had a few glorious days where it reached the mid-70s, though today we haven't broken 60F.

it seems that things bloom year-round here. there's no moment where you look out the window and know without a doubt that spring has arrived. it just sortof creeps in.

Husband and I went up to Taipei last weekend and spent some time wandering through one of our favorite parks. things were blooming.

the Hakka Cultural Park is an interesting place. we discovered it when a friend brought us there for a South African music festival. but because of it's proximity to our favorite middle eastern restaurant in Taiwan [Sababa Pita Bar] we often find ourselves taking a stroll in its direction.

I'm not sure if the decorations were left over from the lunar new year celebrations or something else, but the park was decked out in lanterns. I particularly loved the floral print ones.

we sat and watched the birds for a while, then found another form of entertainment. there was some kind of photoshoot going on. except there were a dozen photographers. maybe the girl was someone famous...

and yeah, that guy totally caught me taking a picture of all of them taking pictures.

we also found this lantern display of the "matchmaking god." to find your match and have the god bring you a good marriage, you had to... scan the QR code and download an app? we decided to pass. I think our marriage is pretty good already.

especially because Husband suggested we stop for macarons before taking the train home. these are one of the few "naturally" gluten-free treats I can have, and thankfully several of the big department stores are fancy enough to have a small shop or stand which offers them. I tried a raspberry, a vanilla with black pepper [amazing], and this yellow passionfruit which had a chocolate cream inside.

have you seen any signs of spring yet?

the cup of coffee that fueled the writing of today’s post was sponsored by Jenn. she drinks her coffee with Truvia + almond milk and blogs about lifestyle + home improvement over at Near and Far Montana.